McCaffrey earned the 2015 Paul Hornung Award by setting an NCAA single season record with 3,864 all-purpose yards as a running back, slot receiver, quarterback and return specialist. The award is given annually by the Louisville Sports Commission (LSC) to the most versatile player in major college football.

Hall of Fame President David Baker was the featured speaker at the ceremony.

“It’s an incredible honor for me to speak at a banquet that bears the name of Paul Hornung, a true Hero of the Game who was enshrined in Canton in 1986. Paul exemplifies the many great values learned from the game,” Baker said. “What makes this opportunity even more special is coming to Paul’s hometown of Louisville to celebrate the excellence achieved by Christian McCaffrey in 2015. The Hall of Fame applauds the legacy and goodwill that the Paul Hornung Award has created in six short years.”

The mission of the Paul Hornung Award, which was created in 2010, is to recognize and reward versatile, high-level performers in college football; to help preserve the legacy of one of Louisville’s native sons and sports icons; and to promote Louisville as a great sports town.

One of college football’s most dynamic players in 2015, McCaffrey parlayed his speed and quickness with sheer determination to record a season for the ages and an abundance of post-season honors: Associated Press Player of the Year; Consensus All-American, Academic All-American; MVP of the Rose Bowl and the Pac-12 Championship games; Pac-12 Player of the Year; second in voting for the Heisman Trophy; and finalist for the Davey O’Brien, Maxwell and Walter Camp Awards.

McCaffrey finished the year with eight touchdowns rushing, five receiving, one on a kick return, one on a punt return and he threw two touchdown passes. During the regular season, he recorded 200 all-purpose yards in four games, 300 all-purpose yards in four games, and set Stanford records with 10 consecutive games of 100 rushing yards and 243 rushing yards in a single game.

With focus and determination and remarkable success in big games reminiscent of the Golden Boy himself, McCaffrey put his versatility on display for the entire nation with a pair of spectacular performances in the post season: in the Pac-12 championship win over USC, he recorded a school record 461 all-purpose yards — 207 rushing, 105 receiving, 120 in kick returns and 29 in punt returns, and accounted for a touchdown rushing, receiving and passing. In Stanford’s 45-16 Rose Bowl win over Iowa, he totaled a record 368 all-purpose yards, including a 75-yard touchdown reception and a 68-yard punt return for a touchdown, and became the first player in the storied 102-year history of the Rose Bowl to gain more than 100 yards rushing and receiving.